Death Bringer

Chapter Six

“Don’t be fucking ridiculous, it can’t be Morosov!” Ella snapped.

“It sure looks like him,” Rich said. Sam nodded eagerly.

“But why the fuck would Morosov do that?”

“Just hold on a minute! Everyone shut up, and less of the profanity, please, Ella!” Feehan stood and they stopped talking. “There’s an obvious place to start with this. Vadim, is that you?”

“No, it isn’t.”

“He could be lying,” Sam suggested.

Ella scowled at him. “It isn’t him, you dumbass. Look at the time on the screen. We’d left the hospital by then!”

“And you say you were with Vadim until you returned to the hospital?”

“Yes, we were catching an early dinner.” She could feel her cheeks going red. “At Morosov’s hotel.”

“Well, that’s easy enough to confirm.” Feehan said. “The hotel will have a record of your check in the dining room.”

“We got room service. It was quicker.” She glanced over at Vadim to help her out, but he was still staring at the screen, a frown between his eyes. Why the hell was she the one who had to defend him? “We didn’t have a lot of time.”

“Yeah, right,” Liz murmured.

“Anyway, can you all please try and remember that we are dealing with a killer who can switch faces? Isn’t it obvious that he did this to cause us to panic?”

“But Vadim still has his face.” Sam objected.

“Well, maybe our perp can replicate someone’s features as well as steal the whole thing! I don’t know. I only know that Morosov was with me the whole time.” She glared at Feehan. “I’ll take a lie-detector test, if you don’t believe me.”

Feehan made soothing gestures with his hand. “That’s hardly necessary. We are dealing with a creature that can manipulate faces, and what you suggest is highly likely.”

“Did anyone else get the sense that he did it deliberately?” Liz asked.

“Did what?”

“Looked right at the security camera.” She gestured at Rich. “Can you show that bit again? It’s as if he wanted us to see him.”

“Well, if he’s wearing Vad’s face, he probably did.” Sam agreed. “That’s, like, weird, dude.”

Rich backed up the tape and slowed it down. Ella frowned as the doctor touched Delia’s cheek.

“That’s when he puts her under.”

“Agreed.” Feehan said. “She doesn’t protest in any way when he goes into Brad’s room, does she?”

In the next frame the doctor turned to look at the camera and Rich paused the image.

“He does look like Vadim, but there are some subtle differences,” Liz conceded. “He’s younger. It’s as if someone took a picture of him ten years ago and used that.” She turned away from the screen. “Do you have any relatives who bear a striking resemblance to you?”

“Not that I know of.”

“Are you sure?”

Vadim shrugged, the epitome of cool unconcern. “I haven’t been back to Otherworld for several years. I suppose there might be someone who has grown up to look like me.”

Ella glanced at her partner. Despite his tranquil reply, he was not happy at all. Even worse, she was pretty damn sure he wasn’t telling the truth. Was she the only one who could sense it, or was Liz picking it up too? It might explain why she had so many questions.

She stood up. “Well, if we’ve agreed it’s not Morosov, can we all go home, now? We’re not going to get anywhere tonight, and we have a lot to do tomorrow.”

Feehan glanced at Liz, who gave him a slight nod.

“Sure. Ella, why don’t you hang out with Vadim this evening and make sure he’s feeling okay.”

“Me? He’s Fae. He doesn’t need a human looking after him.”

“You’re his partner.”

She stared at Vadim, who leaned back in his chair. “Would you like me to babysit you tonight, Morosov?”

“If that’s what Mr. Feehan wants, I’m happy to oblige.”

“Then come on, I’ll take you home.”

He stood too and said his goodbyes. In a few moments they were heading down to the basement parking lot. He held out his hand for his keys, and Ella reluctantly gave them up.

“Did you notice that no one else left?” Ella settled into the seat and Vadim shut his door.

“That’s probably because they wanted to talk about me.”

“You think?” She put on her seat belt. “I can’t believe they think you had anything to do with it.”

He backed out of his space. “I did put a spell on Brad.”

“But that was for his own protection.”

He grimaced. “But I interfered with Adam’s trophy. It might’ve been enough to make him kill Brad.”

“Morosov, all the victims we know about killed themselves. You weren’t responsible for them.”

“Thanks for believing in me.” He glanced sideways at her and she kept her gaze fixed on the road.

“You’re my partner. We’ve got each other’s backs, right?”

“Right. My hotel or your apartment?”

“Your hotel is closer.”

“Then let’s go there, and I can get out of this glass-infested suit.”

This time Vadim parked and walked through the hotel lobby like a regular human being, one hand placed on the small of Ella’s back simply because he needed to touch her. He had a strange sense that he was being observed, but couldn’t see an obvious threat. If Adam was around, there was nothing he could do about it except remain vigilant. He wished he had more time to prepare. He’d done nothing to help Ella accept her newfound magical powers either. She might need them, if the future turned out to be as awful as he feared.

“What’s up, Morosov? You’re like a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“At least it made you pay attention. What’s going on in your head? What did you think of that dude looking like you?”

“Can we wait until I’ve had my bath to discuss this?” He swiped his room key and the green light flickered on.

“Holy cow!” Ella dropped to a crouch and brought out her weapon. “What happened in here?”

His room was in chaos, drawers open, pillows ripped and his clothes strewn all over the floor... That wasn’t even the worst of it. Sitting on top of his clothes was Rossa, wings neatly folded behind his head like some heavenly angel. He was naked, apart from a few strategically placed white feathers, and as beautiful as ever.

“Rossa! What the fuck?” Ella barged ahead of him and got straight in his cousin’s face. “Why did you do this?”

Vadim shut the door. “Yes, why?”

“I didn’t.” Rossa glanced around the disordered space as if he’d just noticed it. “Do you want me to make it all better?”

“No, thanks.” Vadim came to stand beside Ella. “I’d rather do it myself when you’re gone.” He wanted to taste the magic, to see if it was the same. “What do you want?”

“Just to tell you that there is a lot of interest in what you’ve been up to. Our grandmother wants you back, and your mother and father are arguing about it again.”

“What’s new?”

“It’s more intense than it’s been since you first left. I really think you’ll be forced back fairly soon.”

“And how are they are going to manage that, when I’m mated and entitled to stay here?”

“That’s right. You’re fucking her now, aren’t you?” Rossa grinned at Ella and smoothed down the feathers on his chest. “Remember, they’ll use whatever means possible.”

Anger flooded Vadim’s veins, and black feathers swirled around and over Rossa’s head. He switched to Fae. “You can give them a message from me. If they lay one hand on my mate, I’ll make them pay for it in blood.”

Rossa stopped smiling and waved at Ella. “‘Bye, gorgeous. Take care now.”

Vadim took a deep, steadying breath and eyed the pile of clothes Rossa had been sitting on. Maybe he should get everything dry-cleaned or—better still—just destroyed. He’d like to destroy something. Preferably his cousin.

“Rossa is infuriating. And why did you start speaking in tongues for the last bit? You sounded quite menacing.”

“Threats always sound better in Fae.” Vadim picked up one of his shirts and shook it out. The scent of Otherworld magic entered his senses, and he knew exactly who’d been in his room. The question was why. With a flick of his hand, he restored the room to its usual clean state and went into the bathroom. Ella, of course, followed him.

“Are you going to tell me what you said?”

“I told him to fuck off.”

“You always tell him to do that. So why did you speak in a language you knew I didn’t understand?”

He loosened his tie and dropped it to the floor. “As I said, can I have my bath before the interrogation?”

“It’s weird how you clam up whenever I ask you any questions, when you expect me to answer all yours immediately. I thought we were supposed to be in this together.” She pulled a towel off the rail and threw it hard at his chest. “Enjoy your stupid bath.”

For once he didn’t have time to appreciate getting the upper hand. He was too bone weary to care. She didn’t want him protecting her, and she was already suspicious. And she was right to be so. Adam’s threat in the hospital had been far more specific than he’d let on to Ella. Because he was now mated, he was vulnerable. Every Fae knew that and wouldn’t hesitate to strike. He growled low in his throat and his fangs pierced his lower lip.

But was Adam’s attempt to involve Vadim personally in his crimes due to ancient grudges or to something more recent? Blood ties were a tortuous and complex thing, especially for the long-lived Fae. He needed to think up a reasonable explanation before Ella got fed up waiting and either told Feehan the parts Vadim had left out, or worse, decided to tackle Adam and Otherworld herself.

Eventually, he had to get out of the bath. He dried himself off, wrapped a towel around his hips and went back into the bedroom. Ella sat in a chair by the faux fireplace, boots kicked off and her feet curled up under her. If he wasn’t mistaken, she was now wearing one of his T-shirts. She looked tired, and her hair was coming out of its braid. He thought about fixing it for her, but instead took the chair opposite. She’d closed the drapes, and the nighttime roar of the city traffic was slightly muted.

“Do you want me to show you that Fae trick for cleaning yourself up?”

She blinked at him. “Are you suggesting I need to take another shower?”

“If I teach you this spell, you won’t need to.”

“Ever?”

He leaned his head back against the chair and studied her. “That might be a stretch. Luckily, most Fae have an affinity for water.”

“Okay, how d’you do it?”

“It’s quite easy. You picture the thing you want to clean up and say these words, geilan dah.”

“Gay Linda?”

“Gey-ei-landah.” He repeated slowly. “If you forget to brush your hair one morning. You could fix the problem while you were driving to work without taking your hands off the steering wheel—not that doing that seems to bother you much anyway.”

She sat forward. “Are you saying my hair is a mess?”

“I’m not saying anything. I’m just giving you an example.”

“Fine. I should’ve known cleaning things would be your favorite spell.” She sighed and closed her eyes. As he watched, her hair magically rearranged itself into two neat shining braids.

“Did it work?”

“Yes.” His smile was enough to have her running to the mirror.

“I look like a Swedish tourist.”

“Nothing wrong with that.”

She returned to her seat, fingering one of her braids. “Now, if you’ve finished prevaricating, do you want to tell me what’s really going on?”

“I think I’ve told you most of it.”

“Bullshit, Morosov. I know how your devious Fae mind works. Even if I can’t quite access all the important bits, I can still sense when you’re hiding things from me.”

She could?

Damn.

“What aren’t you telling me?”

Perhaps it was time for the truth. “That you need to be on your guard, and that I would prefer it if we stayed together at all times.”

She wrapped her arms around her drawn-up knees and rested her chin on them. “You’re afraid for me?”

“You’re my mate. Otherworld knows that. You will be used against me.”

“Do you think I’d let myself be used?”

“Not intentionally.”

“Well, thanks for that, at least.” She considered him for a long moment. “What can I do to make myself less vulnerable?”

“You’re taking this much better than I thought you would.”

She shrugged. “Otherworld is your world. I’m a liability for you there. I don’t want to be one, so I’d like to improve our odds.”

“I appreciate that. With my magic, you aren’t without power. You just need to learn how to use it.”

“Can you teach me?”

“Not in time.” He grimaced. “I fear that someone will come after me fairly soon.”

“And when you say after you, you really mean after me, don’t you?”

“You heard what Rossa said. Otherworld is interested in us.”

“That’s right, he did say that. Why are your parents fighting over you?”

“I’m something of a divisive force. The maternal line wants me back in Otherworld to carry out its wishes, and my father wishes me in hell.” He held her gaze. “I’ll do everything in my power to prevent you from being taken.”

“I know that.”

“It would also be better if you didn’t go to Otherworld in the near future.”

“Got it. Not that I want to go back to Merton ever again. I’ll send Sam to pick up the photos tomorrow.”

“Thank you.”

“It’s been a horrible day, and tomorrow isn’t going to be any easier. How on earth are we supposed to know what kind of victim Adam will choose next?”

“Going by his previous behavior, it will be close by, and fairly soon.”

She shivered. “Somehow this feels really personal.” She glanced up at him. “Do you feel that too?”

“Yes.”

Because it was.

He’d tangled with the sect in the past many times. But he wasn’t in a position to reveal that to Ella yet. He hoped he never had to. It was going to be difficult to keep her safe while trying to solve his issues with Adam.

“Is there anything else you want to ask me?”

She uncurled her legs and stretched. “Loads, but I can’t think straight.”

“Then shall we go to bed?”

“Sure.”

Her smile made him forget sleep and immediately think of sex. He rose to his feet and held out his hand, and she took it. He instantly felt better, more connected and safer. His mother always insisted that love was a cage. He could feel it all around him now, but somehow it was less frightening than he had imagined. If only Ella could see it that way too. But then how would she survive his inevitable death? He followed her into bed and held her close. Perhaps she was right not to allow anyone near her—especially him.